I got to the
hospital and was kindly greeted by many of the nurses that took care of me
during my 7 week stay. I talked to Dr. Martinie and she recommended that I call
Chris and tell him to come down in case we needed to go into emergency c-section
or needed to induce labor right away. The first hour showed that Will was still
under stress and he still was showing little sign of movement but he had a
strong heartbeat. The second hour showed much improvement! Will was starting to
move around and was looking pretty good on the monitor so they gave me the
option of going home and coming back the following day for another ultrasound
and to be hooked up to the NST again OR to go ahead with the induction as we
originally had it scheduled for this date but because I wanted to go natural, I
moved the induction date back. I thought about it, prayed about it and ask for
input from Chris and my mom. After some time, I felt at peace with moving
forward with the induction as originally planned.
At 2:00 pm,
Dr. Martinie broke my bag of waters, I was dilated to 2 cm at that time. Within
15 minutes my contractions started. By 3:00 pm, my contractions were 2 minutes
apart. At 4:00 pm, I opted for some IV medication to help with the pain. I had
horrible back labor, the nurse warned me the medication would only last an hour
but I could opt to have another dose at that time. The medication made me feel
terrible and only lasted 30 minutes for me. So as the next hour was
approaching, I decided if I hadn’t progressed much, I would need to do
something else for the pain. I was checked again and was only at 3 cm, so I opted
for the epidural. Ah, instant relief and so glad I got it! At 6:00 pm, I was
dilated to 5 cm. At 7:00, I was at 7 cm and then I sat there... At 9:30, I was
still at 7 cm because of the scarring my cervix has from the cerclage, Will was
starting to show signs of stress, Will’s head was coning really bad, I started
swelling terribly bad and the Dr. was concerned that I might not even be able
to push Will out. The Dr. recommended that I have a c-section. I totally
trusted in the Dr. and quickly agreed. So both Chris and I were prepped for the
delivery room and I was taken away.
Will was
welcomed into this world at 10:52 pm. The cord was wrapped around his neck
twice but once they got him unwrapped and cleared out, he gave us a loud and
beautiful cry! The Dr. held him up quickly for me to see and then they went to
clean him up.
Chris trimmed the cord and brought him over for me to meet him.
He was perfect in every way. It was love at first sight. Seeing Chris holding
our son and the love I could see he had for our son already was very joyful.
When I was in
the recovery room, Will was taken to the nursery where they cleaned him up a
little better, weighed him and checked his glucose level. The nurse held Will
up to the window so the grandparents could see him. We have a very healthy
little boy!
Willis Joseph
Weight: 6
pounds 13 ounces
Length: 21”
Head circumference:
13”
Over the next
few days, we enjoyed many visitors. Family, friends and nurses came to see Will
– we have such a loved little boy. We were very busy, it seemed like when we
didn’t have a personal visitor we had staff visitors checking in on us. Trying
to learn what your newborn needs, how to nurse and having a major surgery
really takes a lot out of a person. I was very happy to be able to leave on
Saturday and start the next chapter of our lives!
Thank you
everyone for your love, support, prayers, gifts and everything you did for us
while I was pregnant with Will. God’s grace shined through each of you and we
are so thankful and fortunate to have you in our lives. We are truly blessed!